"Figured Out"

At first listen, there's not much that aesthetically binds Floridian art-pop band Merchandise with the psychdelic desert-punk of Arizona's Destruction Unit or the moonlit grooves of Olympia's Milk Music. The bond between these former tourmates is steeped more in conviction and band-as-life spirit. These groups all learned how to make their way in relatively isolated regions of the U.S.—recording and touring and earning cultish underground fanbases—within their own means and on their own terms. In that sense, the idea of figuring it out is as apt an intro as any to their upcoming three-way split 12", USA '13.

"Figured Out" situates Merchandise, for the first time, on a proper pop-rock track with drummer Elsner Nino—although their recent 4AD debut "Begging For Your Life" showcased his abilities well. The atmospheric alt-rock of 2012's Children of Desire is breezily honed here; the noise-freakouts are tempered with one massive jolt of light. Compared to the sprawling, poetic landscape of last year's Totale Nite, "Figured Out" embraces simplicity. Frontman Carson Cox is locking himself up again, romanticizing solitude—"The better half of my mind/ Says that I should sit tight/ And stay in," he sings over a hook that's just as compulsively listenable as any of their bestsongs. It begs the question of what some of their betterearly lo-firecordings would sound like if reimagined as a five-piece, but moreso of what comes next.